On what date did Japan sign the formal surrender document aboard USS Missouri?

Japan signed the formal surrender document aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945.

The signing followed Emperor Hirohito’s recorded announcement on 15 August that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. Those two events are related but distinct: the August broadcast announced the decision, while the September ceremony legally documented the surrender to the Allied powers.

Representatives of the Japanese government and Imperial General Headquarters signed two copies of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. General Douglas MacArthur then signed for the Allied powers, followed by representatives of the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

The ceremony ended the war with Japan, although separate regional surrender documents were signed afterward by Japanese forces in places such as the Philippines, Korea, and Southeast Asia.